


To Build a Home

by Emptylester (timelordangel)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2017, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, happy birthday nikki, milo - Freeform, moving fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 10:38:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10384800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelordangel/pseuds/Emptylester
Summary: Who knew the path to being homeowners and dog parents was paved so terribly- seriously, they should really get this road worked on.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [noogaloo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noogaloo/gifts).



> Happy birthday Nikki!!

Somewhere, trapped in the depths of the past, exists a miniscule bedroom with a tinier bed pushed into the crevice across from the door. It is very, very brown.

That room now is white with a queen bed in the center of the room, across from the windows. The walls are white and the new sheets are whiter, and as his parents try to sell the house there sits a potted plant that occasionally goes unwatered in the corner by the outlet. 

Dan sometimes wishes he lived in a warehouse with a single mattress on the floor and a fluffy duvet half-off the bed beside pots of vines and a pair of Birkenstocks. He frowns at his laptop as he scrolls through the interior design tag on Tumblr, contemplating.

Fucking minimalists. This house is so crowded. 

He scrunches up his face and glares at his possessions from the sofa. They’re everywhere. And sure, they’re nice. Most of them are memories from accomplishments he has with Phil, the actual love of his life, which means he never wants to toss them in the bin.

But goddamn they’re everywhere. 

He opens iMessage on his laptop and clicks Phil’s name, typing furiously, “Our lease is up in May, right?” 

It’s not forty-five seconds later when Phil starts typing, the three dots appearing for no short of two minutes before there is a single reply of “Yes.” 

“We have three and a half months,” Dan types back, not waiting for a response before closing the application.

London, thick with smog and dreary weather, has been good to them. It has supported them and kissed them fondly every morning with blaring sirens and power drills galore. Dan will need to replace the blinds on his windows from how often he lobs his pillow at them when he can’t handle the noise any longer. 

Brighton is nice. It’s apparently the “unofficial gay capital of the UK”, he reads from a paragraph on a house listing website. Cool. 

Not that he thinks he needs a community, as they’re not even out yet. That might have to happen eventually. More things to add to the list.

“Hey,” Phil is grinning at him from the doorway of the lounge. Messy hair, glasses, pajamas. He’s absolutely perfect, Dan thinks.

“Hey you,” Dan grins, unable to help himself, “what are we up to today?”

Because they share days, these days. 

“Let’s go to the Irish festival across the city, we can get milkshakes and pet dogs,” Phil joins Dan on the sofa, placing his coffee precariously on the cushion between them.

“Sure,” Dan agrees, taking the mug and stealing a sip.

Phil peers over at the laptop screen and nods approvingly, “Brighton, then?”

“Why not? Living by the beach sounds nice. You miss- we miss Peej and Sophie.” 

“Not objecting, just asking,” Phil gives a quick kiss to Dan’s cheek before taking his coffee back.

It is soft, comfortable; a permeating feeling of warmth that seeps from under the doors and lives here as much as they do, really. 

On second thought, maybe it’s just the gas leak again.

They really need to get out of this house.

They go to the Saint Patrick’s Day festival and it’s too hot, Dan thinks. Dan frowns behind sunglasses and jabs at Phil’s arm and says this aloud.

“It’s good. Feels nice,” Phil shrugs, looking around. When he turns back to face Dan, Dan is gone. He spots him about ten yards away next to an entire herd (okay, four) Corgis. 

Dan starts speaking the second Phil approaches from behind, saying, “Phil, I think we need one.”

Their handler chuckles and shakes Phil’s hand, explaining that she runs the Corgi Rescues of London and they’re here looking for potential homes.

“Unfortunately the landlord doesn’t allow pets-“ Phil tells the woman, but Dan straightens and frowns.

“Good thing we’re moving, could I get one of your business cards?” Dan cuts Phil off, watching the smile on the woman’s face grow as she begins digging through her bag.

Phil just smiles along and resists the constant urge to slip his hand into Dan’s. Maybe Brighton would allow that. 

On March 20th, a ding alerts Phil of an email and he ignores it out of habit, but when Dan appears in the office five seconds later with a grin that could stop traffic, Phil picks up his phone wordlessly.

“Wow,” Phil nods at the screen. 

The listing is beautiful. It is tall and thin with winding ivy on the balcony. Sturdy red brick and a burgundy door draw his attention instantly; he scrolls intently through the pictures of the three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and gorgeous kitchen. 

He imagines him and Dan cooking breakfast and dancing around on the tile and immediately clicks on the phone number at the bottom of the page. As it dials, Dan just smiles softly from the doorway.

“Hello, is this Doris Matthews, the realtor for the East Brighton listing? Great. We’d love to come see it sometime. Tomorrow morning, perhaps? Okay, great. This is my cell, just give me a call. Sounds good. Bye, thank you,” Phil hangs up and grins at Dan.

“Phil Lester,” Dan drawls, crossing the room slowly before pushing back the office chair and climbing over Phil’s lap. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you,”

“You think we’ll make it?” Phil teases, running his hands over Dan’s hips and ass.

“Maybe, we’ve not known each other very long,” Dan gives a chaise kiss to Phil’s jaw. 

“You’re right. We should live together for a few years first,” Phil drags Dan closer and Dan lets out a muffled gasp.

“I love you,” Dan breathes, grinding against Phil.

“Does the idea of settling down with me make you, horny?” 

“Phil, baby, turn off the computer,” Dan insists- and that’s the end of Phil’s editing for the day.

Not that he minds.

It takes a while, thanks to finicky owners and Phil’s own ability to question every financial decision they make, but it happens. 

Their lease ends in May and they briefly move into Peej and Sophie’s house with most of their things. It’s a tight fit, and hiding it from the Internet is difficult. 

They get frustrated, with the situation and each other, as they deal with closing costs and arrangements that keep being postponed for one reason or another. On the sixteenth day of being crammed in a guest bedroom of their friend’s house in the dead heat of summer, Dan begins to reconsider moving at all. The gas leak flat back in London suddenly seems like paradise.

“Phil!” Dan’s voice is an angry whisper from the slightly ajar door of the hall bathroom, “Where is the clean towel I put in here not ten minutes ago?”

Phil pokes his head out of the guest bedroom and frowns. “I spilled my coffee in the bedroom so I used that to mop it up.”

“You, you used my clean towel to clean coffee? What the fuck?” Dan snaps, his voice going back to his normal degrees of loud, louder, and loudest.

“I didn’t know you were using it!” 

“It was hanging up, you dumbass!” Dan glares, his wet curls dripping down his face, “There aren’t any more, can you bring me a dish cloth or something?”

“I don’t know where they are,” Phil shrugs.

“Phil, what the fuck! Don’t wake them up, go find something.” 

“Hey guys,” Peej, sleepy and clearly irritated, “can you refrain from yelling before ten thirty, we’d appreciate it,”

“I’m not yelling, he’s yelling!” Dan yells, slamming the bathroom door.

From the steamy room, he hears Phil apologize and then he hears Peej ask how obtaining the house is going. It’s a hint, but Dan and Phil are at a standstill with the homeowners and nobody is sure what is going on.

Two minutes later the handle jiggles on the door and Dan opens it to find three hand towels hanging there.

Ten minutes later he is fully clothed and joins Phil at the breakfast table where Phil has already set him a bowl.

Without a word, Dan reaches his hand over and takes Phil’s, giving it a soft squeeze. 

“We’ll sort it out, things are coming along,” Dan promises.

At this Phil gives a small smile and mouths “sorry”, and Dan simply says, “I’d rather argue with you here than be in a better situation with anyone else.”

The next day, the first of August, they close. 

The papers are signed and the locks are changed- it’s theirs.  
Peej and Sophie more than willingly help move them out of their guest bedroom, and Dan and Phil promise to wait at least at year before spending the night again.

Everyone laughs as they gather in their new house and Dan is suddenly so, so thankful for amazing friends, Phil, this house, and just about everything else in his stupid life. 

When everything is moved in (and damn, those possessions don’t quite fill the space the way they did in London) they fuck for two days straight in every room of the house. 

“The laundry room next?” Dan pants, his fingers twisted in Phil’s t-shirt. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Phil grins, connecting their lips as he hoists Dan on top of the dryer.

Their new neighbors already hate them.

Week two brings with it two new videos from Danisnotonfire and Amazingphil, a new gaming video from their shiny new office, and Dan emailing the Corgi woman from five months ago.

“People are demanding a house tour,” Phil giggles from the corner of the kitchen. 

“Okay,” Dan hums, not paying attention, “Oh! Melody emailed me back!”

“Melody? Should I be concerned?” Phil narrows his eyebrows and pockets his phone.

“Shut up, she’s the lady we met at the festival in March. Who- who runs the corgi rescue,” Dan’s excited and bubbly, tapping away at his keyboard.

“Oh, I guess we can get a dog now,” Phil seems to realize suddenly, “yeah. Let’s do that.”

Dan grins and says, “Right, I sort of already have.” 

“What do you mean?”

“There’s this one that they’ve had for a long time; Milo, he’s, like, already three or so. He’s deaf, born that way.”

“So?”

“So I told Melody we’d come get him as soon as we got settled in, and guess what!” Dan’s smile keeps growing. 

“What?” Phil smiles, playing along.

“We’re settled! I hope your schedule is free tomorrow,” Dan stands and punctuates his thoughts with a kiss to Phil’s nose.

“Sure, let’s do it. But first, let’s go get puppy things so we’re ready,” 

“Right, have you done research?” Dan asks seriously, but his excitement bubbles up and over.

“Loads, I’m a little nervous,” Phil says softly, like he might not want Dan to hear the second part.

Dan feels like he’s been woken abruptly from a deep sleep he didn’t realize he was taking. He feels as though fog has been cleared from his eyes and he can suddenly see the reward for every difficult thing he’s ever done right in front of him.

Phil, he realizes, is the beginning and end of everything for him. 

Dan thinks about how beautiful features fade; fame will disperse into the void before they know it. The lifestyle they lead will not survive, nor will their sex drives or energy- but the kindness and memories they have together will.

Those grounding blue eyes will be with Dan until they day he dies, he’s sure of it. There is nothing in this world like this feeling, like this life, like this amazing man in front of him.

“Dan, are you okay?” Phil’s voice is still soft, still so filled with love. His hand is on Dan’s face and Dan is aware of the moisture gathering near his eyes.

“I love you,” Dan connects their lips and it feels like something bigger, settles deep and warm within him and feels like forever. 

“I love you too,” Phil giggles against Dan’s lips and it feels like just that- like love.


End file.
